Google launches Chrome Time Machine on the browser’s fourth birthday

Google Chrome was released on September 2, 2008. That means the browser is more than four-years-old. Google is only celebrating today, however, since its browsers birthday fell on a Sunday that happened to be part of a long weekend. The result is the Chrome Time Machine, which attempts to “track Chrome’s journey from a better web to your web.”

The new site lets you travel through key moments in Chrome’s short history over the past four years. Oh, and since Google is feeling generous, you may even get a special birthday gift from the Chrome team if you find the hidden clue and type in “the secret code.”

The search giant played up the fact that while Chrome first launched on Windows, it’s now on multiple platforms:

Fast forward to today, and many people have more than one device–a smartphone, a tablet, a computer at work, a computer at home. The beauty of the web is that it’s the one platform that can deliver a consistent experience on any device with a browser. We’ve been working to build a more seamless Chrome experience that lets you to take your Chrome stuff with you on all your devices.

The web isn’t the same for everyone–we all have our own individual bookmarks, tabs, history, passwords and more that reflect what we do online and what we care about. Chrome now enables you to access your web, everywhere. Whether you’re on a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer, a Chromebook, or an Android or iOS smartphone or tablet, you can have the same consistent experience no matter where you go, just by signing in to Chrome.

This got me into a cross-platform mood. I tried accessing the site with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 (just for fun) and the page didn’t load completely. My colleague Paul Sawers tried using Mozilla Firefox and got this error message: “You’ll need a Chrome browser to reach 88mph…” Here’s a screenshot in case all you use is Google Chrome:

Google of course doesn’t have to test this website with other browsers, given that it’s just a tribute to Chrome. Then again, it’s not the best way to show you support Web standards. The point is to be able to access the same Web from any device using any browser, not any device using Chrome.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the page has a Google+ icon, but nothing for Facebook and Twitter. I guess I won’t be sharing it then.

Update at 5:00PM EST: Sundar Pichai, Google’s Senior Vice President of Chrome and Apps, has put a very cool idea into action. “The team is putting together 10000 lego pieces for a 5 ft version of Chrome logo:) To celebrate chrome’s fourth birthday, thanks for all of those who helped us get here.” They’re just getting started: